With a glut of vacant downtown properties, Norwich Mayor Peter Nystrom hopes a new marketing strategy for the lots will draw new interest from investors.

“When you look at a building in isolation, it makes for a limited game,” Nystrom said. “If you can bring multiple sites together, you’ve got a much larger area for development.”

City officials are targeting the downtown sector and a former industrial site on Shipping Street as prime candidates for redevelopment, but they said starting with the former makes the most sense because of existing infrastructure like gas and sewer lines.

Nystrom said his proposal has support from prominent downtown property owners such as Jeffrey Lord, who could not be reached for comment.

“Some of this stems from conversations with property owners downtown,” Nystrom said. “There are a number of properties that have been looked at. Combining them is the first step in attracting opportunities for them.”

Alderman Charlie Jaskiewicz said he’d like to see the city go further than that, calling for development initiatives on a larger scale.

“We do buildings. Buildings aren’t good enough. We need to do blocks at a time,” he said. “When I look at projects going on in other municipalities like Hartford and New Haven, that’s what’s happening.”

As of April 13, nearly 20 applications for downtown revitalization funds through the Norwich Community Development Corp. were active, and since a $3.38 million bond package was approved by voters in November 2011, $539,236 has been distributed for a range of initiatives.

Opening up more opportunities for redevelopment could spur more interest in the programs from firms like Concord, Mass.-based Winstanley Enterprises, which is overseeing a $7.5 million overhaul of Norwichtown Commons.

Nystrom said the company has expressed interest in taking on another city project, though no plans have yet been announced.

“I intend to have those discussions with them about issues like that,” he said. “You want to recognize obvious assets you have in the city, and developers that are already here are one of them.”